In Conference: Hazel Pritchard

Conference work, semester-long projects conducted in tandem with course work, epitomizes a Sarah Lawrence education. Named for the biweekly “conferences” students have with their professors, conference projects invite creativity to meet academic rigor. Students bring their outside interests into each class and write research papers, short stories, poetry, experiment reports, or whatever else they might think of. Students typically graduate with a portfolio of 12-15 conference projects specific to their academic interests and an arsenal of valuable research and writing skills.

Hazel Pritchard primarily studied literature during her four years at Sarah Lawrence, pulling in themes from her sociology classes to reflect on sexuality, feminism, gender performance, and nature. While her conference projects didn’t always end up where they started (“I planned on writing a slice-of-life anthology series, and it became a satirical dystopian news podcast. Things change,” she said), she found her niche writing in-depth research papers and the occasional creative nonfiction essay—including a love letter to her English roots and tea culture.

With the steady guidance of her faculty mentors, Hazel found that, with each conference project, her writing and her confidence in her own opinions improved. The narrative evaluations she received in each class reflected her growth. “One of my professors called my writing ‘beautiful and strikingly intelligent,’” she said. “It was one of the nicest evaluations I’ve ever received!”

Conference Works

A selection of Hazel's projects from her four years at Sarah Lawrence.

First year

Course “I’m Not Making This Up: Writing Creative Nonfiction”

Project Loose Leaf: A Tea Collection

First year

Course “Art and Myth in Ancient Greece” with David Castriota

Project The “Nature” of Female Devaluation in Ancient Greek Societies

Sophomore year

Course “Studies in the 19th-Century Novel” with Ilja Wachs

Project Naturally Pure: Heroic Ruralism in Thomas Hardy’s Nature Novels

Senior year

Course “Women, Culture and Politics in US History” with Lyde Cullen Sizer

Project Always Falling in Love: The Problems of Marriage and Autonomy in Daughter of the Earth and Their Eyes Were Watching God

Senior year

Course “Green Romanticisms: The Garden and the Wild” with Fiona Wilson

Project Puppets in the Garden: Nature and Artifice in Angela Carter’s The Magic Toyshop

Hometown Milwaukee, WI
Studies English Literature
Pronouns She/her
Conference works completed 18

Photo by Don Hamerman

 

One of my professors called my writing ‘beautiful and strikingly intelligent.’ It was one of the nicest evaluations I’ve ever received!

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